Cooperation potential is big with Japan

Economic cooperation between China and Japan still has the possibility of further advancement under the current complicated and changeable situation, but the two countries should target bilateral cooperation aimed at promoting the overall development of the global and regional economy.

Together they account for one-fifth of the global economic output, so economic cooperation between China and Japan will have a positive effect on the global economic recovery at the time when it runs the risk of a double-dip recession.

The two countries have played a pivotal role in Asia's integration. They are also playing a crucial role in regional efforts to set up a free trade area between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

In the last two years, the total volume of trade between China and Japan has increased, but two-way trade and investment has experienced a little decline compared with previous years. This tendency highlights the necessity for the two countries to take effective measures to push forward the bilateral cooperation momentum.

China has vowed to transform its economic development mode in its 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) for national economic and social development, a move that will offer a bigger space for economic cooperation with Japan. The country's ongoing inflation pressures will not reverse its rapid and all-round development in the years ahead and its transformation into a consumption-driven economy. In this context, China and Japan will become more economically complementary and interdependent, a process in which China is expected to have a growing demand for Japan's new technologies and luxury consumer goods, while Japan is expected to have an increasing dependence on China's huge market.